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Detroit Free Press Business Writer

Ford CEO Alan Mulally refused to say whether he has spoken to anyone at Microsoft about becoming the software company’s next CEO, which may only fuel more speculation.

“We have no change to our plan and I love serving Ford and we don’t comment on speculation,” Mulally said Thursday in response to a question about whether he has talked to Microsoft officials.

Mulally’s comment comes two days after another candidate to be Microsoft’s next CEO, Oracle President Mark Hurd, took himself out of the running.

“I’m very happy at Oracle; I plan on going nowhere,” Hurd told CNBC on Tuesday morning.

On a conference call to discuss the automaker’s third-quarter earnings, an analyst first asked about the Microsoft reports. Numerous news media outlets have reported that Mulally is on a short list to replace Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who has said he will leave the tech company next year.

“Nothing has changed,” said Mulally, who previously said he will stay at Ford through 2014. He said he is “excited and honored” to serve Ford.

Asked if he might stay at Ford beyond 2015, Mulally repeated the mantra that the plan has not changed.

The Ford board of directors did not address the issue publicly at this month’s board meeting.

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop was regarded as Ballmer’s favored replacement, but according to PCWorld, Elop is out of the running after being named head of Microsoft’s devices unit. Microsoft’s $7.17-billion acquisition of Nokia has yet to close.

Other names that Microsoft has reportedly considered includes such internal candidates as Terry Myerson, head of its operating systems group; Julie Larson-Green, head of studios engineering group; Qi Lu, head of its applications and services engineering group; Tami Reller, head of marketing, and Tony Bates, leader of business development and evangelism.